QuicKeys X3 for Mac OS X Frequently Asked Questions

Here you can find answers to questions about QuicKeys 3 for Mac OS X. If you can't find an answer to your question you can contact us in our Support request form or ask a question in the Startly Community.

Q. What is the current version of QuicKeys X3 for Mac OS X?

A. Version 3.2.3 is the current version. You can get it on our download page.

Q. Is QuicKeys X3 compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger?

A. Yes. QuicKeys X version 3.0.2 was updated with Tiger in mind and is available
as a free download for registered users of QuicKeys X3. It is compatible
with all versions of Panther (10.3) and Tiger (10.4).

Q. I upgraded to Tiger and now some of my menu shortcuts don't work

A. Tiger changed the way menu selections are handled behind the scenes. If you
are having trouble with menu selection shortcuts no longer working, try de-selecting
the "Show menus while performing menu action" checkbox for that step.

Q. My F14 and F15 keys don't work as triggers under Tiger or Leopard, why?

A. As of 10.4.11 (Tiger) and 10.5.5 (Leopard) Apple has changed how these keys work. Newer keyboards that have dedicated brightness keys with the graphic above the Fkeys the F14 and F15 will just work. If you have an older keyboard you can now go into the Keyboard & Mouse System Preference and under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab you will find a new item named "Display" where you can reassign the default F14 and F15 to something else, like adding Control to each of them so the raw F14 and F15 can be used by QuicKeys.

Q. What are Multi-step Shortcuts and how do I create them?

A. Multi-step Shortcuts are a collection of QuicKeys Shortcut
steps that you can assemble to automate more complex tasks. You can build
a Multi-step Shortcut by first creating a Single-step Shortcut and then
choosing to create another step using the "Create" menu. Any
Shortcut created within the Shortcut Editing window will be an additional
step within that Shortcut.

Q. What is the difference between a keystroke and a Hot Key?

A. They are basically the same thing. They
describe the keyboard keys that you press to play QuicKeys Shortcuts. QuicKeys
X uses the term Hot Key.

Q. What is a trigger?

A. A trigger is any signal that tells QuicKeys
to play a Shortcut. You can use After Open, Day & Time, Hot Keys, the
QuicKeys Menu, Repeat triggers or QuicKeys toolbars.

Q.
Why can I not assign F1-F12 as hot keys on my iBook
or PowerBook?

A. On laptops, these keys are held by the operating system for things
like sound and screen control. As of Mac OS X 10.3.4 (Panther), there
is now an option in System Preferences:Keyboard
& Mouse to
alter this behavior. You can now reverse the Fkeys so that the fn
modifier key is no longer needed to circumvent the default sound/screen
adjustment behavior.

Q.
Why does my "Switch to Application" Shortcut no longer
work?

A. As a result of changing upgrading/replacing applications, you
may need to edit your Switch to Application Shortcuts. Re-select
the
application
you want to switch to while editing your Switch Application Shortcut Steps.

Q.
When I try to record a Multi-step shortcut "Clicks" are not
recorded at all.

A. Mouse and other input devices need to support
a USB standard known as HID in order to be recorded. Getting the latest
driver may help if clicks (or other mouse functions) do not work.

Q.
Why are my triggers for a specific Shortcut not working?

A. If you have the Shortcut Editing window open
for a particular Shortcut, the triggers for that Shortcut are disabled
until you close the window. If the Hot Key field is active when editing
a shortcut, all QuicKeys Hot Keys are turned off until you move your cursor
off the Hot Key field. This functionality ensures that QuicKeys does not
play a Shortcut while you are assigning a Hot Key. This behavior applies
when you are defining any Hot Keys for Shortcuts or toolbars. It also applies
when you edit the Keystroke field for Type Keystroke Shortcuts. When Hot
Keys are disabled, an "X" appears over the QuicKeys Dock icon.

Q. Why does QuicKeys not accept
some of my Hot Key assignments?

A. OS X 10.2.x reserves several key combinations,
including:

Command+Tab: Switch forward

Command+Shift+Tab: Switch back

Command+Option+Escape: Force quit

Also, the Tab key can only be assigned as a Hot Key if the mouse button
is held down while pressing the Tab key.

Q.
Why do QuicKeys Shortcuts that are assigned Day & Time triggers
not execute?

A. Shortcuts that are set up as timed events
will not execute when the computer is in Sleep mode.

Q.
Why can I not drag a trigger out of the list and make it "poof"?

A. Drag the trigger to the Trash. You can also
use the delete button, delete menu, or the contextual menu.

Q. Switch to next application
does not work as expected. It seems to switch to a specified application?

A. Apple has recently changed the behavior in
switching applications. This will be monitored and addressed in a future
update.

Q.
What is the "Q" in the menu bar and how do I make it go away?

A. The "Q" in the menu bar is the
QuicKeys System Menu. It offers another way of triggering Shortcuts. If
a trigger is assigned to the QuicKeys System Menu, the Shortcut will appear
after the editing window for the Shortcut is closed. If you do not want
to display the QuicKeys System Menu, you can turn it off in the QuicKeys
Preferences.

Q. Can I create Shortcuts
by dragging files or folders?

A. Yes. You can drag files and folders onto the
QuicKeys Editor Shortcut list and the Shortcut Editing window will open for a
new Shortcut. Similarly you can drag files and folders onto user-defined toolbars
to create Shortcuts.

Q. How do I remove items
from toolbars?

A. Hold down the Command key, select the item you
want to remove and drag it off the toolbar.

Q. How do I put a custom icon on an item in one of my QuicKeys
toolbars?

A. A custom icon is a property of a shortcut. To give the toolbar
item a custom icon you must give the shortcut that button represents a
custom
icon.

Find the shortcut for that toolbar item in the QuicKeys editor
view and double click on it to open the shortcut editor.

Bring up the Inspector window by pressing command-I or from the
Window Menu, choose Show Inspector.

Choose "Shortcut Icon" from the pop-up menu.

Select the icon and paste any custom
icon in over the default one.

Your new custom icon will now display in your toolbar as well as
the main QuicKeys Shortcut list.

Q. How can I use
custom fonts and styles in my type text shortcuts?

A.
If you need to customize fonts, styles, or even include graphics
use the Clips shortcut.

Q. Why do I have
extra Pauses in my recording?

A.
QuicKeys tries to emulate the time you take when you are recording.
You may edit or remove the Pauses if they are excessive.

Q. Why can I not
right click on my Toolbar to get the contextual menu?

A.
QuicKeys Toolbars are maintained by a background application.
You must use the Control key with a left click to obtain the contextual
menu.

A. There are some QuicKeys Shortcut Types that are
not automatically renamed, even when the preference is set. These Shortcut Types
include:

AppleScript - if playing a user-entered script
(not a script from a file)

Click - if the user hasn't entered a description

E-mail

Manage Files

Pause

Inline Shortcut

Mouse Recording - if the user has not entered
a description

Terminal Command

Type Text

Q. Why does my QuicKeys Terminal Command Shortcut not
work?

A. The QuicKeys Terminal Command Shortcut does not use
the Terminal application. You cannot execute commands that require user
interaction.
You can, however,
redirect most commands to a file to view the results. For example, to
display the contents of the Applications folder you would type: cd Applications;
ls > ~/Desktop/terminal.txt. This changes the working directory, issues
the list directory contents command, then outputs the results to the
file named terminal.txt on your Desktop.

Q. Why does my Menu
Selection Shortcut not work?

A.
Some applications do not follow Mac OS X Accessibility
standards. QuicKeys cannot recognize the menus of these applications. If
you create a Menu
Selection Shortcut and it does not work try a Menu Clicks Shortcut.

Q. Why
are some of the characters in my Type Text Shortcut not being typed?

A.
If the Hot Key for your Type Text Shortcut contains the
same character as one of the first few characters to be typed, that character
may not
get typed. Change the Type Text Shortcut option from Type Text to Insert
Text or insert a Pause step immediately before the Type Text step.

Q.
What happened to the "Change Folder" Shortcut?

A. Mac OS X no longer has a consistent interface for Save/Open dialog windows.
When QuicKeys X tries to change the open/save location for you, it assumes there
is a "Go To Folder" field available in which to put the new path information.
Some open/save dialogs had this field, some did not, so Apple added a special
keystroke of their own to enable this field. If you type Command-shift-G while
in an open/save dialog, it will bring up a field where you can type in the desired
path. QuicKeys can do all of this for you if you just add a Type Keystroke Shortcut
step in front of any Change Folder Shortcut you have.

A. A new feature of Panther (Mac OS X 10.3.3) and later is an operating system feature called Exposé.
This feature, by default, hijacks your F9, F10, and F11 keys. To change the hot keys used by Exposé go to your System Preferences > Expose pane.

Q.
How can Full Keyboard Access work with QuicKeys?

A. Under System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse pane, you can check a checkbox named
"Turn
on full keyboard access." Doing so enables you to use your tab key to move focus
around a particular window's controls. I.e. you can tab from checkbox to checkbox
or radio button to menu to button, and hit your spacebar to enable/disable said
control. This can be very useful when building QuicKeys Shortcuts within apps
that use non-standard code behind their user interface.

Q.
I have a lot of shortcuts in QuicKeys 5 under Mac OS 9, why
can't I import them into QuicKeys X? What can I do to import these?

A. Unfortunately there is no way to do this. Translating shortcut data from QuicKeys 5 to QuicKeys X must be manually done by the user.